


What was housing thinking?

by ravenienne



Series: Powerless Universe (AU) [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Blind Character, Blindness, Canon Disabled Character, Deaf Character, Disability, Disabled Character, Gen, Physical Disability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 12:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12864321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenienne/pseuds/ravenienne
Summary: Matt and Foggy meet each other as new roommates on move-in day at Columbia. Neither is what the other was expecting.





	What was housing thinking?

_ Room 312… Room 312…  _ The elevator dinged and Matt stepped off, hoisting his duffel bag higher on his shoulder as he did, his cane tapping ahead of him. A long hallway stretched to his left, echoing with the sounds of freshmen and their parents unpacking, arguing, and saying tearful goodbyes. He started down it slowly, feeling awkward and out of place.

 

“Excuse me?” he called out as he heard someone approaching him. “Could you point me towards room 312?”

 

“Yeah, it’s that way, man. On the right,” the stranger gestured casually as he passed by without stopping.

 

_ Well, that sort of narrowed it down, _ Matt thought with frustration, resuming his walk.

 

“What room number was this again?” A girl’s voice said from the open doorway to his right. “Oh yeah, 310. So do you want to just meet me here, or…”

 

That was fortuitous. So 312 would either be the next one or the one he had just passed. He continued on, pausing when his cane found a closed door. Maybe his roommate wasn’t here yet? He gave a quick knock then tried the handle, opening the door just as he heard frustrated noises coming from the opposite side.

 

“Excuse me, is this room 312?”

 

There was a grunt and Matt thought he might have caught the word “load” mumbled. He ventured slightly farther into the room, his cane diagonally in front of him, wondering if the occupant was wearing headphones.

 

“Oh, hi!” they finally said, their voice sounding oddly thick to Matt’s ears.

 

“Is this room 312?”

 

“Room 312? Yeah, who’re you looking for?”

 

Matt gave a small, awkward smile in response to the question and closed the door, stepping forwards to search for the empty bed.

 

“Oh. Oh! You must be my roommate!” The man cottoned on as Matt found a bare bed and dumped his duffel bag followed by his backpack onto it.

 

Matt smiled. “I guess so.” He leaned forward and stretched out his right hand, keeping his cane in his left. “Matt Murdock.”

 

He heard his new roommate scrambling off the bed and then felt him grasp his hand in a firm shake. “I’m Foggy Nelson. You said your name is Matt?”

 

Matt nodded. “Yeah.”

 

Foggy chuckled, surprisingly loudly. “Well this will be an interesting year.”

 

Matt bristled slightly, then turned back towards his bed and his duffel bag, unsure of how to respond to that.

 

“Oh, you think I mean… Sorry, I didn’t mean because… well, kind of-- Spit it out Foggy. I’m Deaf.”

 

Matt turned back toward his roommate in surprise.

 

Foggy laughed again. “I wonder what in the world housing was thinking when they put us together.”

 

At that, Matt couldn’t help but laugh too. Their insecure chortles soon turned into full-on guffaws, the nerves and awkward tension of the day releasing.

 

When they had calmed down some, now both sitting on the edge of Matt’s bed, Foggy spoke up again.

 

“Just to get it out of the way, I don’t hear much. I wear hearing aids, which help some, but I mostly speechread, and rely a lot on context. I prefer ASL though, but I’m assuming you don’t know any.”

 

Matt shook his head. “No, I don’t.” He paused for just a moment. “Uh, I don’t, um, see anything. NLP -- no light perception. So just, um, tell me if you don’t catch something I say? Or if I forget to face you.”

 

Matt heard Foggy’s hair shift over his shoulders. “Sorry, I just nodded. Well, I hate it when people assume things about what I can or can’t do, so I’ll try not to do that to you. Just let me know if you need help though.”

 

Matt nodded and gave his roommate a small smile.

 

“Oh, hey, so the wifi here sucks, apparently, but I finally got it to connect,” Foggy explained. “You want help with yours? I am now a master of the beguiling ways of SafeConnect.”

 

“Oh, uh,” Matt could feel the tips of his ears blushing. “No, but thanks. I don’t have my computer yet. But maybe when I get it?”

 

“Sure, whenever man.” He heard Foggy stand up, then turn back to face him again. “Oh, my folks went out to grab some basic supplies for the mini fridge -- they left me here to unpack. But they’ll probably be back soon, and I’m sure they’d love to meet your parents. Are they on their way up?”

 

Right, the other reason he would stand out in college. The blind, orphaned kid from the wrong side of the tracks. Probably weren’t a whole lot of them walking around prestigious colleges like Columbia, even with scholarships and financial aid. “Actually, no. No parents.” He smiled at Foggy reassuringly, grabbing a t-shirt from the top of his duffel just for something to do with his hands. “I’ve been at St. Agnes for the past eight years. Children’s home.”

 

“Oh.” There was a pause. “So you’re from the city then?”

 

“Yep. Born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen,” Matt stated proudly. 

 

“Nice! Me too.”

 

“Really? I didn’t expect to run into a lot of people from the Kitchen around here.”

 

Foggy laughed. “There were many things I was not expecting about my roommate, Matt.”


End file.
